The new age of Dragons
by Deeth Irteen
Summary: Centuries have passed since the defeat of Malefor, and the world has entered a new age of peace. But alas, that peace is soon replaced by Bloodshed and prejudice... This is an introduction to The Legend of Rune.
1. Chapter 1

A new age of Dragons

By Deeth Irteen

All dragons know the Legends. Long ago, a purple dragon named Spyro and a black dragoness named Cynder brought an end to the Dark Master, Malefor. And when it looked like the world would come to an end, Spyro used his power to restore it. However, he did more than he realized. When Spyro restored the world, he also revived the dragon race; many dragons who had been destroyed when they were but eggs, were given a new lease on life. The revival of the race also granted them access to previously unseen elements of magic. Some were incredible, while others were frightening.

Five hundred years have passed since that time. In that time, the dragons grew larger in number than ever before. They divided their number into twelve clans, six clans of light and six clans of Darkness, each clan a master over one element. Each clan took dominion over a part of the world:

Sagittarius, light clan of Fire, took rule over the Pyrus Volcanoes.

Pisces, light clan of Water, took rule over the world's Oceans.

Gemini, light clan of Electricity, took rule over the Fractured Hills.

Virgo, light clan of Earth, took rule over the Mountains of Kilon.

Scorpio, dark clan of Flora, took rule over the Tarune Forests.

Taurus, dark clan of Fauna, took rule over the Raunn Jungle.

Aquarius, dark clan of Wind, took rule over the skies.

Leo, dark clan of Sound, took rule over the Aechos Valley.

Cancer, light clan of Memory, took rule over the ancient cities of Warfang and Glenhaven.

Aries, dark clan of Pain, took rule over the Mountains of Inferdus.

Libra, light clan of Time, took rule over the Arcus Desert.

And Capricorn, dark clan of Space, took rule over the Floating Plains.

For the longest time, the 12 clans lived in peace with one another. But alas, this was not meant to last forever….


	2. Chapter 2

A new age of Dragons: Part 2

By Deeth Irteen

At an unknown point in time, a pack of rogue dragons, dragons exiled for crimes against their respective clans, started wreaking havoc on dragons of Clan Pisces. Time and again, livestock was slaughtered, property was vandalized, and hatchlings were abducted, or worse. Frustrated, the ruling class of Clan Pisces sent spies to sneak into the rogue group and pinpoint their lair. Eventually, the rogues were tracked to a single cave in a high mountain range. Once the information reached the rulers of Clan Pises, they launched a raid on the cave in a heartbeat. When Pisces's forces raided the cave, they found a multitude of dragon eggs, which they assumed to belong to the rogues. Blinded by rage, the Pisces dragons destroyed every last egg they found.

This would prove to be a mistake. In truth, the cave, and the eggs within, belonged to Clan Aquarius. Aquarius had been using the cave to house their unhatched children. The rogues had recently seized control of the cave, holding the eggs as hostages and demanding safe haven to have them returned. When Clan Aquarius learned what befell their children, they angrily demanded retribution from Clan Pisces. But Pisces merely brushed their demands aside, claiming the lost eggs were acceptable losses. Now lusting for revenge, Clan Aquarius sent their own forces to attack and destroy a cave used by Pisces to house _their_ young, killing adult and child dragon alike in the process. Aquarius smugly announced to Pisces that they were now even.

From that period on, Pisces and Aquarius developed bitter hatred for one another, openly attacking each other whenever either side got the chance. Several other clans of Light and Dark dragons started aiding both sides, causing the conflict to escalate in size. Before long, a war between Light and Dark dragons arose allover the world. Thousands of Dragons grew up learning hatred for one side or another. Once beautiful lands were razed. Wildlife was rendered extinct. Once grand dragon cities were left in ruin. The only clans that did not partake in the war were Libra, Cancer, Aries and Capricorn.

Over time, the Dark dragons in the war started losing to the Light dragons. They were almost all slain completely until they finally surrendered. The Light dragons started announcing their victory, until Clan Cancer declared it was a hollow one. The world they fought in had been horribly scarred in the process. Seeing the destruction caused by the war's wake, some dragons felt guilt for even fighting in the war at all. However, other dragons, still seething with hatred, blamed the world's ruin on the Dark dragons, for they were the ones to start the war in the first place.

Whoever's fault it was, it did not matter. Clans Cancer and Libra announced a plan to restore the world to their sister clans: All the clans of Light would intermingle, and combine their elements to repair the damage they did. The dragons would also send their children to the Ancient cities of Warfang and Glenhaven to be trained in the use of magic by Dragon Elders. The other Light Dragons agreed, and from then on, the clans of Light slowly dispersed.

But what of the Dark dragons, what little there still were? When the plan was put into action, they feared they would be deemed threats to the world, and scattered themselves all around the world to hide. However, they would soon be brought back together by an ambitious Queen….


	3. Chapter 3

A new age of Dragons: Part 3

By Deeth Irteen

Of all the clans of Dragons, the Clans of Libra, Aries, Cancer and Capricorn had access to magic far more powerful than that of the other clans. Because of this, as well as the authority they held over their respective alignments, they were known throughout the world as "The Cardinal Clans".

It should so happen that, while the war was taking place, a dragoness named Elenar, the young queen of clan Aries, watching the war take place from her domain. When she saw the Dark side of the war begin to lose, she feared that all Dark dragons would be hunted to extinction, even the ones who did not fight in the war. So, formulating a plan to save her kind, she fled with an entourage to treat with the Ruler of Clan Capricorn, the aging King Urobos. When she met with Urobos and his son, the Prince Bane, Elenar proposed her plan: Clans Aries and Capricorn shall combine their recourses and magical abilities to create a new safe haven for all Dark dragons. The haven is to be a gigantic floating city, that constantly moves in the shadow of night. Urobos accepted, and construction began post haste. It took the better part of a year, but the floating city was finally created. It was named "The Hive", and nomadic Dark dragons were able to live there in secrecy. As a final way to combine the 2 clans, Bane and Elenar became mates. From this union, Elenar bore 2 sons: Rune and Cyrus.

As the years passed, the scars of the land that remained after the war were mended, and peace slowly returned. However, some Light dragons found the sudden disappearance of the Dark dragons as too suspicious. These dragons sought to seek out the Dark ones, driven by lingering hate to destroy them all. These dragons came together and formed a new group, named "The Darkstalkers", whose primary goal was the death of all Dark Dragons.

One of the problems with The Hive was that, because of the massive size of its population, it required a great amount or recourses that it's people couldn't completely create on its own. So, Prince Bane devised a spell that changes the user's scales and eyes to different colors; specifically, those of a Light Dragon. This allowed Bane to disguise himself as a nomadic dragon to gather and/or purchase needed resources for the dragons of The Hive. Bane brought a large group with him to better gather what was needed. Unfortunately, when a several Darkstalkers first discovered this new band of "nomads" wandering the lands, they became very suspicious, as the nomads seemed to come from nowhere. They suspected that the nomads were Dark dragons in disguise somehow, yet the way they did it was unknown. The Darkstalkers also couldn't figure out where the nomads would vanish off to for several weeks on end, before returning again.

But the Darkstalkers would soon get their answer, via the actions of a foolish heir…


	4. Chapter 4

A new age of Dragons: Part 4

By Deeth Irteen

One morning, before Bane could leave to begin yet another routine trip to gather recourse, it should so happen that young Rune and Cyrus ask to come along with him. Bane had his reservations about this idea, but his father Urobos thought it would be good for the two to see the world, so Bane reluctantly agreed.

Bane brought Rune, Cyrus and his entourage to the city of Warfang. He allowed the two to wander a short distance away for a while, but assigned two of his personal guard, two dragons named Albanion and Elza, to look after them. While Albanion an Elza took the children to see the sights of the city, Rune, being ever a curious one, looked for a way to give his guardians the slip. Unfortunately for them, the part of Warfang they were visiting had a secret outpost for the Darkstalkers. Two of their members spotted the wandering hatchlings, surprised to see new young faces among the nomads. They were delighted to see young Rune sneak away while Albanion and Elza were speaking to some locals, and silently trailed after him. They managed to get the boy to speak to them, and tricked him into removing his disguise spell, revealing him to be a black dragon. They also tricked Rune into revealing the existence of The Hive to them. When they heard Albanion, Elza and Cyrus approach, the two Darkstalkers ran away, though pretending to promise Rune that they'd keep The Hive a secret.

Once everything needed was gathered, Bane and his entourage waited for nightfall and spirited away for The Hive. Unbeknownst to them, they were being followed by a trio of Darkstalkers. The nomads unwittingly led them to The Hive's location. With the information they needed, the trio reported to the rest of the Darkstalkers, and they launched a full-scale assault on the city the very next morning.

The Dragons of The Hive were caught completely off-guard. An army of Darkstalkers swarmed the streets, killing every Dark dragon they saw. Urobos had his army fight back, but he soon realized the city had to be evacuated. The Dark dragons that were able to evade the Darkstalkers fled to the city's low-level catacombs, which led to trap doors out the bottom of the city. However, before the ruling family could flee as well, Darkstalkers flooded their palace. Urobos was slain. Bane told Elenar to flee with their sons while he stayed and fought, but discovered that Rune was missing. Bane fled the city with Cyrus, while Elenar stayed behind to find Rune.

When Elenar finally found her son, they were surrounded by Darkstalkers. The queen fought valiantly to defend Rune, but was beaten close to death. Seeing no other choice, Elenar sheltered Rune with her body and used every last bit of Magic she had to unleash a Massive elemental Fury attack: Pain fury. The explosion of magic annihilated the army of Darkstalkers and severely damaged the city, causing it to crash into the world below.

When Rune stirred from unconsciousness, he found the dead body of his mother, and the destroyed ruins of his home. Wiping tears from his eyes, he believed that the destruction of The Hive and the death of his kin was his fault entirely. Using what little magic he had, Rune cast a disguise spell on himself, and ventured of into the world, seeking a new home.

Eventually, Bane, Cyrus, and the Dark dragons that still lived found what was left of their once glorious home. As they scrounged for materials that could be salvaged, they found the body of Elenar, but couldn't find Rune's. Bane, distraught with the loss of his Father, Wife, and one of his sons, turned his thoughts to the dragons of Light. He immediately believed that the unwarranted destruction of his home and people was their doing. He rose up from the ground, and declared to his remaining followers that they had a new goal: Eliminate every last dragon of Light in the world, until only dragons of Darkness remained to inherit it. Bane would make them all pay for the unjustified death that was put upon innocent dragons. The other Dark dragons, united in their thirst for vengeance, began constructing a new Dark dragon haven: The Nexus….

Meanwhile, Rune spent several weeks traveling to the south. During that time, he was barely able to find enough food and water to sustain him. Eventually, he found himself traveling across the Arcus Desert. Rune couldn't find anything to eat while journeying there, and eventually passed out from starvation. Luckilly, a pair of traveling dragons, Hontus and Seraph, spotted Rune, and came to the rescue. They brought the unconscious boy to the place they were traveling to: The city of Glenhaven. When Rune was awakened, they asked him who he was. Rune claimed he was an orphan, and didn't have a place to go. So, the dragon elders of the city decided to have the boy stay in Glenhaven to train alongside other dragons his age. Hontus and Seraph offered to adopt the boy, which he accepted.

And so it went. Rune was given a new life, with new friends and family. But the destruction of his old home and the death of his mother still haunted him. And no matter how he tried, he could never forget his past. Nor would his past stay in the past….

THE END….. FOR NOW.


End file.
